Safety Guidelines

Any player under the age of 18 playing in the Saracens Hertfordshire Premier Cricket League, County 20/20 or County Trophy matches must wear a helmet when batting and when standing up to the stumps when keeping wicket. The Umpires must be provided with a team sheet before the start of each match identifying any player who is in under 19 or below age groups. Captains, Coaches, Managers, and umpires must always ensure that a young player wears a helmet.

Youth players as umpire

Where youth players are required to stand as an umpire, only as a last resort should players aged under 18 umpire any part of a match, unless qualified as an umpire or by agreement between both captains. Where possible, any under 18 Umpire should stand only at the striker’s end, (i.e., square leg), with an adult at the bowler’s end.

Captains’ responsibilities.

The Captain is responsible for the safety of all youth players in his team. Captains must ensure young players wear a helmet in adult cricket regardless of the speed of the bowling or the circumstances of the match. Captains must also ensure when placing their field that young players do not infringe the fielding regulations for young players issued by the ECB. Please refer to the Fielding Regulations set out below.

Responsibility and action of umpires

Umpire’s should establish before the start of any match the age group of all young players taking part in the match. Such players MUST be identified on the SHPCL Team-sheet exchanged at the beginning of a game. This may require a meeting with the manager, coach, or captain. When the captain has indicated that there are young players taking part, the umpires should remind the captain that he is responsible for the safety of the young players throughout the match. The umpires should not allow play to proceed if the young player is not wearing a helmet in line with League and ECB regulations.

What are the legal implications?

If a young player receives a head injury in a situation where the guidance had not been followed, there is a material risk that the person responsible for the player at the time the injury was sustained would be potentially liable for damages for negligence. To establish negligence, it would be necessary to show:

• that a person owes the cricketer a duty of care • that the person acted in breach of that duty of care; and • that the cricketer suffered loss or damage because of that breach.

Normally, the Captain will be responsible for identifying who was responsible for the safety of the player at the time the injury was sustained.

Guidance and advice

The League and the ECB offer guidance on a number of playing regulations, directives and the Laws. Full details are available on the League website. Here are summaries of the main items and links to relevant documents you can find there.

Helmets

All players under 18 must wear a helmet when batting or when standing up to the stumps when keeping wicket, with their ages identified on the team sheet. Captains and umpires must ensure that a young player wears a helmet. The ECB strongly recommends that all adult recreational cricketers should wear helmets. Additional information on the web site includes general advice on safety, BSI Standard, women’s helmets, recommendations on what clubs need to do, and insurance.

See: https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/safetyguidelines.pdf

Attempting to Run out the Non-Striker

Following a change to the Laws, this dismissal has moved from Law 41 Unfair Play to Law 38 Run Out. In summary:

At any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground. The instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball is defined as the moment the bowler’s arm reaches the highest point of his/her normal bowling action in the delivery swing.

Guidance

The key aspect of the law are “the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball” and “highest point of his/her normal bowling action”. This is the point in the action when the bowler would normally release the ball. The bowler attempting to run out the non-striker must stop their run up before their arm reaches the point when the ball would normally be released. If so, and they break the wicket with the non-striker out of their crease and there is an appeal, then the non-striker is out. Further details on the Law, plus Spirit of Cricket guidance, at bowler’s end, at https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/attemptingtorunoutnon-striker.pdf

High Full Tosses

The Law states that any delivery that passes (or would have passed) above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is unfair.

The umpire must judge whether there is a risk of injury to the striker and consider the speed, height and direction of the delivery, the skill of the striker, and frequency of such deliveries. Then, on the first occasion, the bowler must be given a final warning (plus other protocols) and if there is a second occurrence then the fielding captain must be told to take the bowler off and he cannot bowl again in the match. The following must always be regarded as dangerous: every slow high full toss that passes, or would have passed, the Striker above shoulder height or every non-slow high full toss directed at or close to the Striker that passes, or would have passed, above waist height. If a high full toss is bowled deliberately, the bowler must be suspended immediately.

See more at https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/highfulltosses.pdf

Ground Weather and Light

Both umpires should agree, at all times, that conditions do not present an actual and foreseeable risk of injury to any player or umpire. Among the criteria to be considered by umpires, the home club and captains when assessing the fitness of the ground, weather and light for play, are:

Fitness of the whole playing area; bowlers’ footholds; free movement of fielders, without slipping; ability of batsmen to play shots and run freely; no surface water or standing water; good visibility; and the ball, after pitching, does not bounce dangerously.

Full guidance at: https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/groundweatherlight.pdf

Lightning: What Should You Do?

Go Indoors Immediately if: There is sudden thunder without lightning, You see lightning in the clouds; You see lightning strike the ground or building etc. nearby; apply the ’40/30 Rule’ – get indoors when thunder is audible within 40 seconds after you see the associated flash (the ‘flash to bang time’) and don’t venture out until thunder has not been heard for 30 minutes.

Guidance at https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/lightning-whatshouldyoudo.pdf

ECB Fast Bowling Directives

The fast bowling directives are designed to raise awareness of the need to nurture and protect young fast bowlers through their formative years. Limits are as follows:

U13

5 overs per spell

U14, U15 6 overs per spell

U16/17/18/19 7 overs per spell

10 overs per day

12 overs per day

18 overs per day

Age groups are based on the age of the player at midnight on 31st August in the year preceding the current season. A fast bowler is defined as a bowler to whom a wicket keeper in the same age group would in normal circumstances stand back to take the ball. Having completed a spell the bowler cannot bowl again, from either end, until the equivalent number of overs to the length of his/her spell have been bowled from the same end More at: https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/fastbowlingdirectives.pdf

Dealing with Suspect Bowling Actions

The Law states that, once the arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery action, the arm must not be straightened at the elbow joint until the ball has left the hand.

Umpires shoudl establish with the captain of the fielding side whether the action has been questioned previously and been reported to the League. If the bowling action has been not checked and cleared, the umpires shall instruct the captain to suspend the bowler and not allow him to bowl again in the match.

If not previously referred to the League then the umpires shall inform the captain that the bowler will now be reported but the bowler shall not be prevented from bowling unless the umpires together are certain that the action is illegal. The captain shall tehn be instructed to suspend the bowler and not allow him to bowl again in the match. See: https://www.hertsleague.co.uk/documents/handbook/dealingwithsuspectbowlingactions.pdf